Foldable bicycle

A foldable-type bicycle comprising:

• a. a front frame section,
• b. a rear frame section,
• c. front and rear wheels respectively mounted on said front and rear frame sections,
• d. hinge means hingedly connecting said front and rear frame sections,
• e. locking means for rigidly but releasably connecting said front and rear frame sections in substantially parallel alignment and being released so that one of said frame sections can be swung with respect to the other of the sections in order to fold said bicycle,
• f. a main sprocket means mounted with respect to said front and rear frame sections and including pedaling means to manually rotate said main sprocket means,
• g. drive means connecting said main sprocket means to said rear wheel to power and thereby rotate said rear wheel,
• h. said main sprocket means comprised of a disc-like member having a diametral size which extends forwardly of and rearwardly of said hinge means and said locking means, and
• i. said front axle means and rear axle means including cooperating locking means to releasably lock said front and rear axle means in an essentially colinear relationship.

A foldable-type bicycle comprising:

• a. a front frame section,
• b. a rear frame section,
• c. front and rear wheels respectively mounted on said front and rear frame sections,
• d. hinge means hingedly connecting said front and rear frame sections,
• e. locking means for rigidly but releasably connecting said front and rear frame sections in substantially parallel alignment and being released so that one of said frame sections can be swung with respect to the other of the sections in order to fold said bicycle,
• f. a main sprocket means including a sprocket shaft mounted with respect to said front and rear frame sections and including pedaling means to manually rotate said main sprocket means,
• g. drive means connecting said main sprocket means to said rear wheel to power and thereby rotate said rear wheel,
• h. a pedal crank arm operatively mounted with respect to said sprocket means to rotate said sprocket means about a transverse axis,
• i. crank arm hinge means connecting said crank arm to said sprocket means and permitting said crank arm to be rotated from a first position through approximately a 180.degree. arc through an axis substantially perpendicular to said transverse axis to a second position,
• j. and crank arm locking means to releasably lock said crank arm in at least one of the first or second positions at the ends of said 180.degree. arc, said crank arm locking means including a manually operable handle shiftable from a first handle position to a second handle position, a camming surface on said handle and engaging a portion of said pedal crank arm and holding same in either the first or second handle positions, and spring means located to operatively bear against and bias said pedal crank arm to said first or said second position.

A foldable-type bicycle comprising:

• a. a front frame section,
• b. a rear frame section,
• c. front and rear wheels respectively mounted on said front and rear frame sections,
• d. hinge means hingedly connecting said front and rear frame sections,
• e. locking means for rigidly but releasably connecting said front and rear frame sections in substantially parallel alignment and being released so that one of said frame sections can be swung with respect to the other of sections in order to fold said bicycle,
• f. an extensible multiple section seat post including a plurality of telescoping seat post sections, operatively mounted with respect to one of said front or rear frame sections,
• g. a seat mounted on the upper end of the uppermost of said seat post sections, and
• h. cable means operatively secured with respect to said seat and with respect to one of said seat post sections or frame sections to limit the uppermost extensible movement of said seat so that said seat can assume the same positional relationship with respect to the frame sections when extended from a collapsed condition to an to an open condition.

A foldable-type bicycle comprising:

• a. a front frame section,
• b. a rear frame section,
• c. hinge means hingedly connecting said front frame section to said rear frame section fthrough a hinge axis,
• d. rear axle means for retaining a rear wheel on said rear frame section,
• e. a column on said front frame section and being pivotal on a column axis with respect to said front frame section,
• f. front axle means for retaining a front wheel on said front frame section,
• g. said front axle means being spaced forwardly of said column axis and said front wheel capable of being rotated about said column axis so that said front axle means is spaced rearwardly of said column axis and being spaced from said hinge axis by a distance approximately equal to the distance from said hinge axis to said rear axle means,
• h. said front frame section being pivotal about said hinge means so that said frame sections are shifted from the unfolded position to the folded position and where said rear axle means is essentially colinear with said front axle means in the folded position, and
• i. biasing means operatively associated with said frame sections to bias said frame sections in the folded and unfolded positions.

A foldable-type bicycle comprising:

• a. a front frame section,
• b. a rear frame section,
• c. front and rear wheels respectively mounted on said front and rear frame sections,
• d. hinge means hingedly connecting said front and rear frame sections,
• e. locking means for rigidly but releasably connecting said front and rear frame sections in substantially parallel alignment and being released so that one of said frame sections can be swung with respect to the other of the sections in order to fold said bicycle,
• f. a main sprocket means mounted with respect to said front and rear frame sections and including pedaling means to manually rotate said main sprocket means,
• g. drive means connecting said means sprocket means to said rear wheel to power and thereby rotate said rear wheel,
• h. said main sprocket means comprised of a disc-like member having a diametral size which extends forwardly of and rearwardly of said hinge means and said locking means, and
• i. biasing means operatively associated with said frame section to bias said frame sections to the folded position and the position where the frame sections are in substantially parallel alignment.

A foldable-type bicycle comprising:

• a. a front frame section,
• b. a rear frame section,
• c. front and rear wheels respectively mounted on said front and rear frame sections,
• d. hinge means hingedly connecting said front and rear frame sections,
• e. locking means for rigidly but releasably connecting said front and rear frame sections in substantially parallel alignment and being released so that one of said frame sections can be swung with respect to the other of the sections in order to fold said bicycle, said locking means comprising (1) cooperating locking elements on each of said frame sections and being capable of engaging each other to hold the frame sections in a locking position in substantiall parallel alignment and being releasable from each other so that said frame sections may be swung with respect to each other and folded, (2) and a locking pin having a camming surface engageable with one of said locking elements to bias same in a pair of angularly located planes to separate said locking elements so that one of said frame sections may be folded with respect to the other,
• f. a main sprocket means mounted with respect to said front and rear frame sections and including pedaling means to manually rotate said main sprocket means,
• g. drive means connecting said main sprocket means to said rear wheel to power and thereby rotate said rear wheel, and
• h. said main sprocket means comprised of a disc-like member having a diametral size which extends forwardly of and rearwardly of said hinge means and said locking means.

A foldable-type bicycle comprising:

• a. a front frame section,
• b. a rear frame section,
• c. front and rear wheels respectively mounted on said front and rear frame sections,
• d. hinge means hingedly connecting said front and rear frame sections,
• e. locking means for rigidly but releasably connecting said front and rear frame sections in substantially parallel alignment and being released so that one of said frame sections can be swung with respect to the other of the sections in order to fold said bicycle , said locking means comprising (1) cooperating locking elements on each of said frame sections and being capable of engaging each other to hold the frame sections in a locking position in substantially parallel alignment and being releasable from each other so that said frame sections may be swung with respect to each other and folded and (2) a locking pin having a camming surface engageable with one of said locking elements to bias same in a pair of angularly located planes to separate said locking elements so that one of said frame sections may be folded with respect to the other,
• f. a main sprocket means including a sprocket shaft mounted with respect to said front and rear frame sections and including pedaling means to manually rotate said main sprocket means,
• g. drive means connecting said main sprocket means to said rear wheel to power and thereby rotate said rear wheel,
• h. a pedal crank arm operatively mounted with respect to said sprocket means to rotate said sprocket means about a transverse axis,
• i. crank arm hinge means connecting said crank arm to said sprocket means and permitting said crank arm to be rotated from a first position through approximately a 180.degree. arc through an axis substantially perpendicular to said transverse axis to a second position,
• j. and crank arm locking means to releasably lock said crank arm in at least one of the first or second positions at the ends of said 180.degree. arc.